• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Old Church Edgbaston (st Bartholomew)

ellbrown, Very nice photos of St Bartholomews Church where my ancesters were married in the 18th and 19th centuries. I saw some pictures of the interior of the church which may have been Flickr, but it was a long time ago; it might be worth having another look though.
 
I'm lucky enough to have this as my parish church and my daughter was married there seven years ago - almost exactly 125 years after her great, great grandfather was married there! Family hasn't always lived in the parish - we seem to have gone round full-circle though.
Here's the website https://www.edgbastonoldchurch.org.uk/index.html with some information and pictures of the windows. If there are any specific shots you would like to see, please let me know and I'll walk round there and snap them.
 
Thanks for posting these photos Elli my grandparents were married there in 1896. I really must go and look round one of these days.
 
n,b.jpeg
This image was in this mornings paper on Carl Chins Page. Edgbaston Old Church 1933.
 
I have recently been looking into a matter of supposed Edgbaston Old Church (St. Barts) 'history'.... but, in searching through various - albeit restricted - Victorian newspaper archives, I'm now wondering whether the incident concerned may be pure 'Folklore', rather than anything more substantial?

In short, I was attempting to find some records pertaining to the alleged suicide of a gentleman named Thomas Jackson, who is said to have ended his life 'in' the church itself - through cutting his throat with a razor - at some point in the 1840's!?

Despite having seen references to this incident in a number of places over the decades - including tracts written by local historians - I simply cannot unearth any actual contemporary, 'historical' records concerning the matter? Well-known local historian, Chris Upton, wrote a piece for a local newspaper in the early 90's which mentions the matter (seemingly as an aspect of bona-fide history). Another piece, from a short-lived periodical called 'Midland Murders, Mysteries and Legends' (released in 1995) also mentions the matter.... though pretty much all references that I've seem contain exactly the same details, so, I guess, originate with the same references?

The only historical piece that I have managed to find (so far) that even touches on the subject is an article from a local newspaper for the mid-1800's; a ridiculously OTT 'ghost story' that basically sounds 'cheesier' than a wheel of Stilton! Laugh! Despite the fact that the suicide itself supposedly took place at some point in the 1840's, the piece - only around a decade after the supposed tragedy - seems to already treat the topic as an aspect of distant history / folklore at very best.... which perhaps suggests that the suggested date is pure fantasy, of behalf of some storyteller or other?

I have recently contacted the church itself about the matter and (rather surprisingly, I must add) received a reply on the topic. Unfortunately, they have no record of the supposed event, though they have a record of the aforementioned piece, written by Chris Upton, in their files.......
 
Nicholas,

I failed to find anything incorporating the keywords "Thomas Jackson" and "Edgbaston" in a newspaper search of the 1840s. If you include "William Thomas Jackson" in the deaths registered at Birmingham in the 1840s there are a total of ten. The problem is that most of those are probably infant deaths and age at death was not recorded in the index until the 1860s. So unless you fancy shelling out a few quid for certifcates or PDFs, we can't be sure. And, of course, the term "the 1840s" is a bit vague.

Maurice :)
 
Thank you very much for your help and advice with this matter Radiorails and Maurice!! Much appreciated, I assure you!!

Since I posted my note, I've written to the Birmingham Diocese to ask if St Bartholomews had ever been 'reconsecrated' at any point, as I've been informed - by a vicar from another church - that this would have certainly occurred if someone had committed suicide there!? Fingers crossed they will get back to me on the matter, at some point, but I certainly won't be holding my breath!! Chuckle!!

In my own (albeit limited) access to the newspaper archives Maurice, I did discover that a number of suicides from the Edgbaston area were actually committed with straight razors..... a reasonably higher figure, it seems, than any other place (locally, at least) that I've looked at in the same vein!? Not that this could possibly have any bearing on the matter in question, of course, but I did find it rather peculiar that the (most probably fictional) Jackson ended his life in this manner!?

Again Gents. - thank you for your attention in this matter!!
 
Back
Top